William T. Sherman William T. Sherman Tweet Major General William T. Sherman (Library of Congress) William Tecumseh Sherman, although not a career military commander before the war, would become one of "the most widely renowned of the Union’s military leaders next to U. S. Grant.” Sherman, one of eleven children, was born into a distinguished family. His father had served on the Supreme Court of Ohio until his sudden death in 1829, leaving Sherman and his family to stay with several friends and relatives. During this period, Sherman found himself living with Senator Thomas Ewing, who obtained an appointment for Sherman to the United States Military Academy, and he graduated sixth in the class of 1840. His early military career proved to be anything but spectacular. He saw some combat during the Second Seminole War in Florida, but unlike many of his colleagues, did not fight in the Mexican-American War, serving instead in California. As a result, he resigned his commission in 1853. He took work in the fields of banking and law briefly before becoming the superintendent of the Louisiana Military Academy in 1859.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, however, Sherman resigned from the academy and headed north, where he was made a colonel of the 13th United States Infantry. Articles George Thomas Sherman first saw combat at the Battle of First Manassas, where he commanded a brigade of Tyler’s Division. Although the Union army was defeated during the battle, President Abraham Lincoln was impressed by Sherman’s performance and he was promoted to brigadier general on August 7, 1861, ranking seventh among other officers at that grade. He was sent to Kentucky to begin the Union task of keeping the state from seceding. While in the state, Sherman expressed his views that the war would not end quickly, and he was replaced by Don Carlos Buell . Sherman was moved to St. Louis, where he served under Henry W. Halleck and completed logistical missions during the Union capture of Fort Donelson. During the battle of Shiloh, Sherman commanded a division, but was overrun during the battle by Confederates under Albert Sydney Johnston . Despite the incident, Sherman was promoted to major general of volunteers on May 1, 1862.

After the battle of Shiloh, Sherman led troops during the battles of Chickasaw Bluffs and Arkansas Post, and commanded XV Corps during the campaign to capture Vicksburg. At the battle of Chattanooga Sherman faced off against Confederates under Patrick Cleburne in the fierce contest at Missionary Ridge. After Ulysses S. Grant was promoted to commander of all the United States armies, Sherman was made commander of all troops in the Western Theatre, and began to wage warfare that would bring him great notoriety in the annals of history. By 1864 Sherman had become convinced that preservation of the Union was contingent not only on defeating the Southern armies in the field but, more importantly, on destroying the Confederacy's material and psychological will to wage war. To achieve that end, he launched a campaign in Georgia that was defined as “modern warfare”, and brought “total destruction…upon the civilian population in the path of the advancing columns [of his armies].” Commanding three armies, under George Henry Thomas , James B. McPherson , and John M. Schofield , he used his superior numbers to consistently outflank Confederate troops under Joseph E.

Johnston , and captured Atlanta on September 2, 1864. The success of the campaign ultimately helped Lincoln win reelection. After the fall of Atlanta, Sherman left the forces under Thomas and Schofield to continue to harass the Confederate Army of Tennessee under John Bell Hood . Meanwhile, Sherman cut off all communications to his army and commenced his now-famous “March to the Sea," leaving in his wake a forty to sixty mile-wide path of destruction through the heartland of Georgia. On December 21, 1864 Sherman wired Lincoln to offer him an early Christmas present: the city of Savannah. I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell. - William Tecumseh Sherman Following his successful campaign through Georgia, Sherman turned his attentions northward and began marching through the Carolinas, chasing the Confederates under the command of Joseph E. Johnston. He continued his campaign of destruction, in particular targeting South Carolina for their role in seceding from the Union first.

He captured Columbia, South Carolina, on February 17, 1865, setting many fires which would consume large portions of the city. He went on to defeat the forces of Johnston in North Carolina during the Battle of Bentonville, and eventually accepted the surrender of Johnston and all troops in Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas on April 26, 1865, becoming the largest surrender of Confederate troops during the war. After the war, Sherman remained in the military and eventually rose to the rank of full general, serving as general-in-chief of the army from 1869 to 1883. Praised for his revolutionary ideas on "total warfare," William T. Sherman died in 1891. Want the Latest? Follow us on Twitter and Facebook: Sherman Quotes - William Tecumseh Sherman - War is Hell William Tecumseh Sherman Union General in the American Civil War. Nicknames includes “Cump” and “Uncle Billy”. Most famous quote is probably “War is Hell” Lived: 1820-1891 (click here to learn more about William T. Sherman ) Military Related William T.

Sherman Quotes “WAR IS HELL” “There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but boys, it is all hell.” or “Some of you young men think that war is all glamour and glory, but let me tell you, boys, it is all hell!” -General William T. Sherman, speech 1880 from which we derive the phrase “War is hell” I’ve also found this version “I am sick and tired of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell.” From “On Killing” by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman “An Army is a collection of armed men obliged to obey one man. Every change in the rules which impairs the principle weakens the army” – William Tecumseh Sherman “War is cruelty.

There’s no use trying to reform it, the crueler it is the sooner it will be over.” – William Tecumseh Sherman “War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen, and I say let us give them all they want.” – General William T. Sherman “A battery of field artillery is worth a thousand muskets.” – General William Tecumseh Sherman Quotes “I will accept no commission that would tend to create a rivalry with Grant. I want him to hold what he has earned and got. I have all the rank I want” – General of the Army William Tecumseh Sherman Quotes in a letter to his brother in 1865 I can’t guarantee that these quotations are correct or true, but I have tried to verify as many of the quotes by William T. Sherman as possible. Please contact me if you find any errors in the William T. Sherman quotes, have some additional information about them or if you know any quotations from William T. Sherman that are not listed here. Submit your own quotes/quotations in our quotes forum Site Content William Tecumseh Sherman - Wikiquote William Tecumseh Sherman War is hell .

You cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will. War is cruelty , and you cannot refine it. William Tecumseh Sherman ( 8 February 1820 – 14 February 1891 ) was a United States Army general during the American Civil War . He succeeded General Ulysses S. Grant as commander of the Western Theater of that war in the spring of 1864. He later served as Commanding General of the U.S. Army from 1869 to 1883. He is best known for his "March to the Sea" through the U.S. state of Georgia that destroyed a large amount of Confederate infrastructure. He is widely regarded by historians as an early advocate of "Total War" . Contents Quotes[ edit ] You have heretofore read public sentiment in your newspapers, that live by falsehood and excitement; and the quicker you seek for truth in other quarters, the better. The negro is free, and must be dealt with as such. I know I had no hand in making this war , and I know I will make more sacrifices to-day than any of you to secure peace . But you cannot have peace and a division of our country.

The South began the war by seizing forts, arsenals, mints, custom-houses, etc., etc., long before Mr. Lincoln was installed, and before the South had one jot or tittle of provocation. I myself have seen in Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi, hundreds and thousands of women and children fleeing from your armies and desperadoes, hungry and with bleeding feet. In Memphis, Vicksburg, and Mississippi, we fed thousands and thousands of the families of rebel soldiers left on our hands, and whom we could not see starve. Now that war comes to you, you feel very different. Our success was to be his freedom. It is only those who have never heard a shot, never heard the shriek and groans of the wounded and lacerated … that cry aloud for more blood , more vengeance , more desolation. I will not accept if nominated, and will not serve if elected. We do want and will have a just obedience to the laws of the United States . That we will have. The United States had certain rights in Georgia , which have never been relinquished and never will be. Allow the Union and peace once more to settle over your old homes at Atlanta.

I did not want them to cast in our teeth what General Hood had once done at Atlanta, that we had to call on their slaves to help us to subdue them. But, as regards kindness to the race , I assert that no army ever did more for that race than the one I commanded at Savannah. Negroes must be encouraged to enlist as soldiers in the service of the United States , to contribute their share toward maintaining their own freedom, and securing their rights as citizens of the United States . You are bound to fail. Only in your spirit and determination are you prepared for war. In all else you are totally unprepared, with a bad cause to start with. Last year they could have saved their slaves , but now it is too late . All the powers of earth cannot restore to them their slaves, any more than their dead grandfathers. 1860s[ edit ] I was satisfied and have been all the time, that the problem of war consists in the awful fact that the present class of men who rule the south must be killed outright than in conquest of territory. 1860[ edit ] You people of the South don't know what you are doing.

This country will be drenched in blood , and God only knows how it will end . It is all folly, madness, a crime against civilization ! You people speak so lightly of war ; you don't know what you're talking about. War is a terrible thing! You mistake, too, the people of the North. They are a peaceable people but an earnest people, and they will fight, too. They are not going to let this country be destroyed without a mighty effort to save it … Besides, where are your men and appliances of war to contend against them? The North can make a steam engine, locomotive, or railway car; hardly a yard of cloth or pair of shoes can you make. You are rushing into war with one of the most powerful, ingeniously mechanical, and determined people on Earth — right at your doors. You are bound to fail. Only in your spirit and determination are you prepared for war. In all else you are totally unprepared, with a bad cause to start with. At first you will make headway, but as your limited resources begin to fail, shut out from the markets of Europe as you will be, your cause will begin to wane.

If your people will but stop and think, they must see in the end that you will surely fail. Comments to Prof. David F. Boyd at the Louisiana State Seminary (24 December 1860), as quoted in The Civil War : A Book of Quotations (2004) by Robert Blaisdell. Also quoted in The Civil War: A Narrative (1986) by Shelby Foote, p. 58. 1862[ edit ] Dispatch to Stephen A. Hurlbut (July 1862)[ edit ] No rebels shall be allowed to remain at Davis Mill so much as an hour. Allow them to go, but do not let them stay. And let it be known that if a farmer wishes to burn his cotton, his house, his family, and himself, he may do so. But not his corn. We want that. Letter to his wife (July 1864)[ specific citation needed ] I can make this march, and I will make Georgia howl! Telegram to General U.S.

Grant (1864), as quoted in Conflict and Compromise : The Political Economy of Slavery, Emancipation, and The American Civil War (1989) by Roger L. Ransom. I am a damned sight smarter man than Grant . I know more about military history , strategy , and grand tactics than he does. I know more about supply, administration, and everything else than he does. I'll tell you where he beats me though and where he beats the world . He doesn't give a damn about what the enemy does out of his sight, but it scares me like hell. … I am more nervous than he is. I am more likely to change my orders or to countermarch my command than he is. He uses such information as he has according to his best judgment; he issues his orders and does his level best to carry them out without much reference to what is going on about him and, so far, experience seems to have fully justified him. Comments to James H. Wilson (22 October 1864), as quoted in Under the Old Flag: Recollections of Military Operations in the War for the Union, the Spanish War, the Boxer Rebellion, etc Vol.

2 (1912) by James Harrison Wilson, p. 17. Letter to R.M. Sawyer (January 1864)[ edit ] If they want eternal war, well and good; we accept the issue, and will dispossess them and put our friends in their place. I know thousands and millions of good people who at simple notice would come to North Alabama and accept the elegant houses and plantations there. If the people of Huntsville think different, let them persist in war three years longer, and then they will not be consulted. Three years ago by a little reflection and patience they could have had a hundred years of peace and prosperity, but they preferred war; very well. Last year they could have saved their slaves, but now it is too late . All the powers of earth cannot restore to them their slaves, any more than their dead grandfathers. Next year their lands will be taken, for in war we can take them, and rightfully, too, and in another year they may beg in vain for their lives. A people who will persevere in war beyond a certain limit ought to know the consequences. Many, many peoples with less pertinacity have been wiped out of national existence.

Letter to Major R.M. Sawyer (31 January 1864), from Vicksburg. Letter to James Guthrie (August 1864)[ edit ] Letter to James Guthrie (14 August 1864), Georgia. I regret exceedingly the arrest of many gentlemen and persons in Kentucky, and still more that they should give causes of arrest. I cannot in person inquire into these matters, but must leave them to the officer who is commissioned and held responsible by Government for the peace and safety of Kentucky. It docs appear to me when our national integrity is threatened and the very fundamental principles of all government endangered that minor issues should not be made by Judge Bullitt and others. We cannot all substitute our individual opinions, however honest, as the test of authority. As citizens and individuals we should waive and abate our private notions of right and policy to those of the duly appointed agents of the Government, certain that if they be in error the time will be short when the real principles will manifest themselves and be recognized. In your career how often have you not believed our Congress had adopted a wrong policy and how short the time now seems to you when the error rectified itself or you were willing to admit yourself wrong.

I notice in Kentucky a disposition to cry against the tyranny and oppression of our Government. Now, were it not for war you know tyranny could not exist in our Government; therefore any acts of late partaking of that aspect are the result of war; and who made this war? Already we find ourselves drifting toward new issues, and are beginning to forget the strong facts of the beginning. You know and I know that long before the North, or the Federal Government, dreamed of war the South had seized the U.S. arseuals, forts, mints, and custom-houses, and had made prisoners of war of the garrisons sent at their urgent demand to protect them 'against Indians, Mexicans, and negroes'.

I know this of my own knowledge, because when the garrison of Baton Bouge was sent to the Rio Grande to assist in protecting that frontier against the guerrilla Cortina, who had cause of offense against the Texan people, Governor Moore made strong complaints and demanded a new garrison for Baton Rouge, alleging as a reason that it was not prudent to have so much material of war in a parish where there were 20,000 slaves and less than 5,000 whites, and very shortly after this he and Bragg, backed by the militia of New Orleans, made 'prisoners of war' of that very garrison, sent there at their own request. You also remember well who first burned the bridges of your railroad, who forced Union men to give up their slaves to work on the rebel forts at Bowling Green, who took wagons and horses and burned houses of persons differing with them honestly in opinion, when I would not let our men burn fence rails for fire or gather fruit or vegetables though hungry, and these were the property of outspoken rebels. We at that time were restrained, tied by a deep seated reverence for law and property.

The rebels first introduced terror as a part of their system, and forced contributions to diminish their wagon trains and thereby increase the mobility and efficiency of their columns. When General Buell had to move at a snail's pace with his vast wagon trains, Bragg moved rapidly, living on the country. No military mind could endure this long, and we are forced in self defense to imitate their example. To me this whole matter seems simple. We must, to live and prosper, be governed by law, and as near that which we inherited as possible. Our hitherto political and private differences were settled by debate, or vote, or decree of a court. We are still willing to return to that system, but our adversaries say no, and appeal to war. They dared us to war, and you remember how tauntingly they defied us to the contest. We have accepted the issue and it must be fought out. You might as well reason with a thunder-storm. War is the remedy our enemies have chosen. Other simple remedies were within their choice.

Yon know it and they know it, but they wanted war, and I say let us give them all they want; not a word of argument, not a sign of let up, no cave in till we are whipped or they are. Telegram to Abraham Lincoln (September 1864)[ edit ] Atlanta is ours, and fairly won. Telegram to President Abraham Lincoln (2 September 1864)[ specific citation needed ] Letter to Henry W. Halleck (September 1864)[ edit ] If the people raise a howl against my barbarity and cruelty, I will answer that war is war, and not popularity-seeking. If they want peace, they and their relatives must stop the war. Letter to the City of Atlanta (September 1864)[ edit ] You cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will. War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it; and those who brought war into our country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out. I know I had no hand in making this war , and I know I will make more sacrifices today than any of you to secure peace. But you cannot have peace and a division of our country .

If the United States submits to a division now, it will not stop, but will go on until we reap the fate of Mexico , which is eternal war . The United States does and must assert its authority, wherever it once had power; for, if it relaxes one bit to pressure, it is gone, and I believe that such is the national feeling. You might as well appeal against the thunder-storm as against these terrible hardships of war. They are inevitable, and the only way the people of Atlanta can hope once more to live in peace and quiet at home, is to stop the war, which can only be done by admitting that it began in error and is perpetuated in pride. We do want and will have a just obedience to the laws of the United States . That we will have, and, if it involves the destruction of your improvements, we cannot help it. You have heretofore read public sentiment in your newspapers, that live by falsehood and excitement; and the quicker you seek for truth in other quarters, the better.

I repeat then that, by the original compact of government, the United States had certain rights in Georgia, which have never been relinquished and never will be; that the South began the war by seizing forts, arsenals, mints, custom-houses, etc., etc., long before Mr. Lincoln was installed, and before the South had one jot or tittle of provocation. I myself have seen in Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi, hundreds and thousands of women and children fleeing from your armies and desperadoes, hungry and with bleeding feet. In Memphis, Vicksburg, and Mississippi, we fed thousands and thousands of the families of rebel soldiers left on our hands, and whom we could not see starve. Now that war comes to you, you feel very different. You deprecate its horrors, but did not feel them when you sent car-loads of soldiers and ammunition, and moulded shells and shot, to carry war into Kentucky and Tennessee, to desolate the homes of hundreds and thousands of good people who only asked to live in peace at their old homes, and under the Government of their inheritance. But these comparisons are idle.

I want peace, and believe it can only be reached through union and war, and I will ever conduct war with a view to perfect an early success. Signal to John M. Corse (October 1864)[ edit ] Hold the fort! I am coming! [The actual messages were "Sherman is coming. Hold out," and "General Sherman says hold fast. We are coming."[ citation needed ] This was changed to "Hold the fort" in a popular hymn by Philip Paul Bliss.[ specific citation needed ]] Signal to Gen. John M. Corse at Allatoona (5 October 1864)[ specific citation needed ] Telegram to Abraham Lincoln (December 1864)[ edit ] I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the City of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty guns and plenty of ammunition, also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton. Telegraph to Abraham Lincoln (December 1864), as quoted in Southern Storm: Sherman's March to the Sea (2008), by Noah Andre Trudeau, New York: HarperCollins, p. 508. "Special Field Order No. 15" (16 January 1865), Savannah, Georgia.

At Beaufort, Hilton Head, Savannah, Fernandina, St. Augustine, and Jacksonville, the blacks may remain in their chosen or accustomed vocations; but on the islands, and in the settlements hereafter to be established no white person whatever, unless military officers and soldiers detailed for duty, will be permitted to reside; and the sole and exclusive management of affairs will be left to the freed people themselves, subject only to the United States military authority, and the acts of Congress. By the laws of war, and orders of the President of the United States, the negro is free, and must be dealt with as such. He cannot be subjected to conscription, or forced military service, save by the written orders of the highest military authority of the department, under such regulations as the President or Congress may prescribe. Domestic servants, blacksmiths, carpenters, and other mechanics, will be free to select their own work and residence, but the young and able-bodied negroes must be encouraged to enlist as soldiers in the service of the United States , to contribute their share toward maintaining their own freedom, and securing their rights as citizens of the United States. Letter to James E.

Yeatman (May 1865)[ edit ] I confess without shame that I am tired & sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. Even success, the most brilliant is over dead and mangled bodies […] It is only those who have not heard a shot, nor heard the shrills & groans of the wounded & lacerated (friend or foe) that cry aloud for more blood & more vengeance, more desolation & so help me God as a man & soldier I will not strike a foe who stands unarmed & submissive before me but will say ‘Go sin no more.’ Letter to James E. Yeatman of St. Louis, Vice-President of the Western Sanitary Commission (21 May 1865). As quoted on p. 358, and footnoted on p. 562, in Sherman: A Soldier's Passion For Order (2007), John F.

Marszalek, Southern Illinois University Press, Chapter 15 ('Fame Tarnished') Variant text: I confess, without shame, that I am sick and tired of fighting — its glory is all moonshine; even success the most brilliant is over dead and mangled bodies, with the anguish and lamentations of distant families, appealing to me for sons, husbands, and fathers […] it is only those who have never heard a shot, never heard the shriek and groans of the wounded and lacerated […] that cry aloud for more blood, more vengeance, more desolation. […] I declare before God, as a man and a soldier, I will not strike a foe who stands unarmed and submissive before me, but would rather say—‘Go, and sin no more.’ As quoted in Sherman: Merchant of Terror, Advocate of Peace (1992), Charles Edmund Vetter, Pelican Publishing, p. 289 See the Discussion Page for more extensive sourcing information. 1869[ edit ] Letter to E.D.

Townsend (March 1869)[ edit ] An army to be useful must be a unit, and out of this has grown the saying, attributed to Napoleon, but doubtless spoken before the days of Alexander, that an army with an inefficient commander was better than one with two able heads. Letter to E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant-General (26 March 1869)[ specific citation needed ] 1870s[ edit ] War is Hell. This quote originates from his address to the graduating class of the Michigan Military Academy (19 June 1879); but slightly varying accounts of this speech have been published: I’ve been where you are now and I know just how you feel. It’s entirely natural that there should beat in the breast of every one of you a hope and desire that some day you can use the skill you have acquired here. Suppress it! You don’t know the horrible aspects of war. I’ve been through two wars and I know. I’ve seen cities and homes in ashes. I’ve seen thousands of men lying on the ground, their dead faces looking up at the skies. I tell you, war is Hell! As quoted from accounts by Dr. Charles O.

Brown in the Battle Creek Enquirer and News (18 November 1933). Variants: There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all Hell. Some of you young men think that war is all glamour and glory, but let me tell you, boys, it is all Hell! 1871[ edit ] Interview (June 1871)[ edit ] I hereby state, and mean all I say, that I never have been and never will be a candidate for President; that if nominated by either party I should peremptorily decline; and even if unanimously elected I should decline to serve. Interview in Harper's Weekly (24 June 1871). 1880s[ edit ] My aim then was to whip the rebels, to humble their pride, to follow them to their inmost recesses, and make them fear and dread us. 'Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.' I did not want them to cast in our teeth what General Hood had once done at Atlanta, that we had to call on their slaves to help us to subdue them.

But, as regards kindness to the race ..., I assert that no army ever did more for that race than the one I commanded at Savannah. As quoted in Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman, 2nd ed., D. Appleton & Co., 1913 (1889). Reprinted by the Library of America, 1990 p. 729. Telegram (1884)[ edit ] I will not accept if nominated, and will not serve if elected. Telegram sent to General Henderson in 1884; quoted in Sherman's Memoirs, 4th ed. 1891. This is often paraphrased: If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve. 1885[ edit ] It will be a thousand years before Grant's character is fully appreciated. Grant is the greatest soldier of our time if not all time... he fixes in his mind what is the true objective and abandons all minor ones. He dismisses all possibility of defeat. He believes in himself and in victory. If his plans go wrong he is never disconcerted but promptly devises a new one and is sure to win in the end.

Grant more nearly impersonated the American character of 1861-65 than any other living man. Therefore he will stand as the typical hero of the great Civil War in America. William Tecumseh Sherman - General - Biography.com William Tecumseh Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman was a U.S. Civil War Union Army leader known for "Sherman's March," in which he and his troops laid waste to the South. IN THESE GROUPS » quotes “I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell.” “If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting reports from Hell before breakfast.” “In our country ... one class of men makes war and leaves another to fight it out.” “War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it.

The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.” “Grant stood by me when I was crazy, and I stood by him when he was drunk, and now we stand by each other.” “I intend to make Georgia howl.” “War is hell.” William Tecumseh Sherman Synopsis William Tecumseh Sherman's early military career was a near disaster, having to be temporarily relieved of command. He returned at the Battle of Shiloh to victory and then gathered 100,000 troops destroying Atlanta and devastating Georgia in his March to the Sea. Often credited with the saying, "war is hell," he was a major architect of modern total war. Early Life William Tecumseh Sherman was born to a prominent family in Lancaster, Ohio, on February, 8, 1820, one of 11 children. His father, Charles Sherman, was a successful lawyer and Ohio Supreme Court justice. When William was 9 years old, his father died suddenly, leaving the family with few finances. He was raised by a family friend, Thomas Ewing, a senator from Ohio and prominent member of the Whig Party. There has been much speculation on Sherman's middle name.

In his memoirs, he wrote that his father gave him the name William Tecumseh because he admired the Shawnee chief. Early Military Career In 1836, Senator Ewing secured William T. Sherman an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. There, he excelled academically, but had little respect for the demerit system. He never got himself into deep trouble, but had numerous minor offenses on this record. Sherman graduated in 1840, sixth in his class. He first saw action against the Seminole Indians in Florida and had numerous assignments through Georgia and South Carolina, where he became acquainted with many of the Old South's most respected families. William T. Sherman's early military career was anything but spectacular. Unlike many of his colleagues who saw action during the Mexican-American War, Sherman spent this time stationed in California as an executive officer. In 1850, he married Eleanor Boyle Ewing, the daughter of Thomas Ewing. With his lack of combat experience, Sherman felt that the U.S. Army was a dead-end, thusly resigning his commission in 1853.

He stayed in California during the glory days of the gold rush as a banker, but that ended in the Panic of 1857. He settled in Kansas to practice law, but without much success. In 1859, William T. Sherman was head master at a military academy in Louisiana. He proved to be an effective administrator and popular with the community. As sectional tensions rose, Sherman warned his secessionist friends that a war would be long and bloody, with the North eventually winning. When Louisiana left the Union, Sherman resigned and moved to St. Louis, wanting nothing to do with the conflict. Though a conservative on slavery, he was a strong supporter of the Union. After the firing on Fort Sumter, he asked his brother, Senator John Sherman, to arrange a commission in the Army. Service in the Civil War In May 1861, William T. Sherman was appointed colonel in the 13th U.S. Infantry, and was assigned command of a brigade under General William McDowell in Washington, D.C. He fought in the First Battle of Bull Run, in which Union troops were badly beaten.

He was then sent to Kentucky and became deeply pessimistic about the war, complaining to his superiors about shortages while exaggerating the enemy's troop strength. He was eventually put on leave, considered unfit for duty. The press picked up on his troubles and described him as "insane." It is believed Sherman suffered from a nervous breakdown. In mid-December 1861, Sherman returned to service in Missouri and was assigned rear-echelon commands. In Kentucky, he provided logistical support for Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant's capture of Fort Donelson in February 1862. The following month, Sherman was assigned to serve with Grant in the Army of West Tennessee. His first test as a commander in combat came at Shiloh. Likely fearing renewed criticism of appearing overly alarmed, William T. Sherman initially dismissed intelligence reports that Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston was in the area. He took little precaution shoring up picket lines or sending out reconnaissance patrols. On the morning of April 6, 1862, the Confederates struck with Hell's own fury. Sherman and Grant rallied their troops and pushed back the rebel offensive by day's end.

With reinforcements arriving that night, Union troops were able to launch a counter attack the next morning, scattering Confederate troops. The experience bonded Sherman and Grant to a lifelong friendship. William T. Sherman remained in the West, serving with Grant in the long campaign against Vicksburg. However, the press was relentless in its criticism of both men. As one newspaper complained, the "Army was being ruined in mud-turtle expeditions, under the leadership of a drunkard [Grant] whose confidential adviser [Sherman] was a lunatic." Eventually, Vicksburg fell and Sherman was given command of three armies in the West. Evolving toward "Total War" In February, 1864, Sherman launched a campaign from Vicksburg, Mississippi, to destroy the rail center at Meridian and clear Confederate resistance from central Mississippi. Three railroad lines intersected at Meridian, which was located between Jackson, the state’s capital, and the cannon foundry and manufacturing center in Selma, Alabama. Speed was of the essence, so Sherman’s army cut supply lines from Vicksburg and foraged off the land.

The Confederates, under General Leonidas Polk, put up some resistance, but his 10,000 troops were no match for the 45,000 Union juggernaut. As Sherman moved west from Vicksburg, he employed feint tactics to keep Polk’s forces at bay protecting Mobile, Alabama. On February 11, 1864, Sherman’s army attacked and destroyed the railroad center at Meridian, then dispersed detachments in four directions destroying railroad tracks, bridges, trestles and any train equipment in their way. This was a prelude to Sherman’s “march to the sea” in Georgia and an important milestone in the evolution of strategy in the Civil War’s relentless ascent toward “total war.” In early September 1864, under heavy siege, Confederate Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood and his men were forced to evacuate Atlanta destroying as many supplies and munitions as they could before William T. Sherman took Atlanta and ultimately burned what was left of it to the ground. With 60,000 men, he began his celebrated "March to the Sea," ripping through Georgia with a 60-mile-wide path of total destruction.

Sherman understood that to win the war and save the Union, his Army would have to break the South's will to fight. Everything was ordered to be destroyed in this military strategy, known as "total war." When Grant became president in 1869, William T. Sherman took over as general commander of the U.S. Army. One of his duties was to protect construction of the railroads from attack by hostile Indians. Believing the Native Americans were an impediment to progress, he ordered total destruction of the warring tribes. Despite his harsh treatment of Native Americans, Sherman spoke out against unscrupulous government officials who mistreated them on the reservations. Life After War In February 1884, William T. Sherman retired from the Army. He lived in St. Louis before moving to New York in 1886. There he devoted his time to theater, amateur painting, and speaking at dinners and banquets. He declined to run for the presidency, saying, "I will not accept if nominated, and will not serve if elected." William Tecumseh Sherman died on February 14, 1891, in New York City.

According to his wishes, he was buried at Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis. President Benjamin Harrison ordered all national flags be flown at half-staff. Though vilified in the South as a demon who perpetuated atrocities on civilians, historians give Sherman high marks as a military strategist and quick-witted tactician. He changed the nature of war and recognized it for what it was: "War is hell." Fact Check We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us ! Citation Information William Tecumseh Sherman Quotes William Tecumseh Sherman Quotes This is a brief selection of William Tecumseh Sherman quotes. In this collection, we hear the General speak on the horror of war and the unreliability of newspapers. Please enjoy these quotes from General Sherman... ---------- "I confess, without shame, that I am sick and tired of fighting — its glory is all moonshine; even success the most brilliant is over dead and mangled bodies, with the anguish and lamentations of distant families, appealing to me for sons, husbands, and fathers ... it is only those who have never heard a shot, never heard the shriek and groans of the wounded and lacerated ...

that cry aloud for more blood, more vengeance, more desolation." ---------- "An army to be useful must be a unit, and out of this has grown the saying, attributed to Napoleon, but doubtless spoken before the days of Alexander, that an army with an inefficient commander was better than one with two able heads." ---------- "I am a damned sight smarter man than Grant. I know more about military history, strategy, and grand tactics than he does. I know more about supply, administration, and everything else than he does. I'll tell you where he beats me though and where he beats the world.

He doesn't give a damn about what the enemy does out of his sight, but it scares me like hell." ---------- "You might as well appeal against the thunder-storm as against these terrible hardships of war." ---------- "I want peace, and believe it can only be reached through union and war, and I will ever conduct war with a view to perfect an early success." ---------- "Grant stood by me when I was crazy, and I stood by him when he was drunk, and now we stand by each other." ---------- "I think I know what military fame is; to be killed on the field of battle and have your name misspelled in the newspapers." ---------- "I make up my opinions from facts and reasoning, and not to suit any body but myself.

If people don't like my opinions, it makes little difference as I don't solicit their opinions or votes." ---------- "Courage - a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it." ---------- "I regard the death and mangling of a couple thousand men as a small affair, a kind of morning dash — and it may be well that we become so hardened." ---------- "War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen, and I say let us give them all they want." ---------- "Let it be known that if a farmer wishes to burn his cotton, his house, his family, and himself, he may do so. But not his corn. We want that." ---------- "If you don’t have my army supplied, and keep it supplied, we’ll eat your mules up, sir – eat your mules up." ---------- "I tell you, war is Hell! " ---------- "I can make this march, and I will make Georgia howl!

" ---------- "Atlanta is ours, and fairly won." ---------- "I will not accept if nominated, and will not serve if elected." (Response to speculation that he would run for President after Grant.) ---------- "If forced to choose between the penitentiary and the White House for four years, I would say the penitentiary, thank you." ---------- "In our Country... one class of men makes war and leaves another to fight it out." ---------- "I will accept no commission that would tend to create a rivalry with Grant. I want him to hold what he has earned and got. I have all the rank I want." ---------- Now its your turn! Feel free to share your favorite William Tecumseh Sherman quotes in the comments section below... BOOK REVIEW: 'A Blaze of Glory': Jeff Shaara Portrays the Horror of the Battle of Shiloh in Stunning First Entry of New Civil War Trilogy | Huntington News BOOK REVIEW: 'A Blaze of Glory': Jeff Shaara Portrays the Horror of the Battle of Shiloh in Stunning First Entry of New Civil War Trilogy Sunday, May 27, 2012 - 17:38 Reviewed by David M. Kinchen I am tired and sick of war.

Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell. -- William Tecumseh Sherman Grant stood by me when I was crazy, and I stood by him when he was drunk, and now we stand by each other. -- Sherman My vote for the most quotable general of the Civil War goes to William Tecumseh Sherman. He was also a very good commander, as demonstrated in Jeff Shaara's "A Blaze of Glory: A Novel of the Battle of Shiloh" (Ballantine Books, 464 pages), the first of a new trilogy by the bestselling novelist. Shiloh, fought April 6 - 7, 1862 at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River near where Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama meet, brought together some of the best generals of the war: Ulysses S. Grant, fresh from his victory over the Confederates at Fort Donelson; Sherman, Don Carlos Buell, Lew Wallace, later to gain fame as the author of "Ben Hur"; another Union general, William H.L.

Wallace (no relation to Lew), mortally wounded and dead at age 40 at Shiloh; Benjamin Prentiss, a native of Virginia, a non-West Pointer who fought the Mormons in Illinois and later fought in Mexico; (There's no mention in the book of another native of Virginia, Union Gen. George H. Thomas, later "The Rock of Chicamauga", who was instrumental in the capture of Corinth, Miss. in late May 1862. Thomas arrived at Shiloh on the second day, April 7, after the fighting was over.) Union "grunts" include Fritz "Dutchie" Bauer, of Milwaukee, a German-American private with the 16th Wisconsin Regiment, and his buddy Samuel Willis, and several others. The Confederate forces at Shiloh were commanded by Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, of Texas, who in 1861 commanded Federal forces in California, resigning his commission when Texas seceded from the Union.

Born in 1803 in Kentucky, he was considered by many to be the best general in the Confederacy by President Jefferson Davis He was killed, possibly by a Confederate soldier, on the first day of the battle -- the highest ranking officer killed on both sides of the 1861-1865 conflict that remains the bloodiest war in the nation's history, with an estimated 620,000 deaths on both sides. In an irony of history, Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was also killed by "friendly fire" the following year at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863. Jeff Shaara Other outstanding Confederate officers in Shaara's book include P.G.T. Beauregard of Louisiana; Braxton Bragg, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and -- representing the Confederate "grunts" -- cavalry lieutenant James Seeley. I particularly like how Shaara toggles between the actions of the generals on both sides, and the ghastly events of the war as experienced by the "grunts,"making the historical novel (with the emphasis on historical) well rounded.

Even though Shaara advises the reader in his "To The Reader" to read historians Shelby Foote and Jim McPherson if you want a detailed history of the Battle of Shiloh, I think even those eminent historians would recommend "A Blaze of Glory" to the general reader. Shaara includes twelve maps in his book; unfortunately the first map, on Page xxiii bears in the legend "Confederate Defensive Lines, January 1861"; it should be "January 1862". I notified the publisher of this error and Shaara graciously acknowledged the error and thanked me; it will be corrected in future printings, he said. The war wasn't going well for the Confederacy in the Western Front in early 1862: After Confederate forces were defeated by Grant at Fort Donelson on Feb. 16, 1862, Johnston's reputation suffered because he was accused of poor judgment in his choice of Brig. Gens. Lloyd Tilghman and John B. Floyd as commanders. Union Maj. General Don Carlos Buell captured the key city of Nashville, forcing the Confederates to abandon Tennessee and retreat to the railroad center of Corinth, Miss.

On his way to defeat the Confederate forces, Grant and his commanders set up a campground at Pittsburg Landing, anchored by a humble church called Shiloh. Sherman refuses to believe intelligence reports that Johnston will emerge from Corinth and attack the strategic encampment in force, which he does on April 6, 1862. Beauregard prematurely believes the rout of the Union forces resulted in a Confederate victory. On April 7 -- reinforced by fresh troops led by Lew Wallace and Buell -- Sherman and Grant are of a different opinion and they counterattack, forcing the Confederates to retreat to Corinth. In an afterword, Shaara describes the pursuit of the fleeing Confederate forces, as well as what happens to the major characters in the book. "A Blaze of Glory" is a stunning achievement by an outstanding writer. I recommend it to anyone interested in the Civil War. It's a vivid portrayal of the horrors of industrialized warfare, and it's not for the faint of heart, with its graphic descriptions of killing and wounding.

About the Author Jeff Shaara is the New York Times bestselling author of "The Final Storm", "No Less Than Victory", "The Steel Wave", "The Rising Tide", "To the Last Man", "The Glorious Cause", "Rise to Rebellion", and "Gone for Soldiers", as well as "Gods and Generals" and "The Last Full Measure" -- two novels that complete the Civil War trilogy that began with his father’s Pulitzer Prize–winning classic, "The Killer Angels". Shaara was born into a family of Italian immigrants in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He grew up in Tallahassee, Florida, and graduated from Florida State University. He lives in Tallahassee. Website: . William Tecumseh Sherman Quotes - BrainyQuote William Tecumseh Sherman Quotes Find on Amazon: William Tecumseh Sherman Cite this Page: Citation

Question: Which US Civil War union general said "I am tired and sick of fighting, its glory is all moonshine. War is Hell"?
Answer: William Sherman